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A female banker who is seeking more than Â£7m (â¬10.6m) in damages from Merrill Lynch over claims of sex discrimination on Friday described the bulge-bracket bank as "institutionally sexist".

Stephanie Villalba, 42, a former senior investment banker at Merrill Lynch in London, told a tribunal that a male-dominated management culture would "box" women into a "vicious circle' of poorer pay.

Villalba said: "I would describe Merrill Lynch as being institutionally sexist. The problem is not the view of individual managers but of the whole culture of the management team. Everybody who is making the decisions is male." She said that for men in the organisation, "it was important to be regarded as a 'good guy'. Such bonding took place in nightclubs and when playing golf'.

The married mother of three, who claims she was "victimised' by managers and forced out of her job in 2003, is claiming more than $13m (€10.6m) in compensation from Merrill Lynch for sex discrimination, unfair dismissal and unequal pay. Her action could result in the highest payout ever for a case where sex discrimination is alleged.

Villalba told the tribunal that her approach of working hard failed in 2002 when Ausaf Abbas was appointed as her new line manager. She said she received "intolerable discrimination" from Abbas that was ultimately led to her losing her job.

"Ausaf Abbas clearly bullied, belittled, undermined and underpaid me. He poisoned others against me and successfully stigmatised me as a problem and a liability," she said.

She added that she failed to receive the support of a higher superior, Raymundo Yu, support which she claimed she would have been forthcoming had she been a man.

Merrill Lynch denies the claims, saying Villalba was removed from her post as head of the firm's private client business in Europe due to "record losses" in the region.